


(Ab)Normal

by echoflowertea



Series: Open Requests [12]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, Reader Is Not Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoflowertea/pseuds/echoflowertea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s just a normal day for you. For the skelebros, everything is a learning experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Ab)Normal

**Author's Note:**

> **prompts** : Hey :) I know I'm putting this request in a little early, but for your next open saturday could you do a piece with sans x reader x papyrus encountering and being surprised by differences between humans and monsters and their cultures etc? I just really love that aspect in your fics and would love to see it fleshed out more. Keep up the good work xx
> 
> heya! uhh, in terms of requests, could i have one where the reader has allergies/keeps sneezing and the skelebros have no idea whats going on? like "aCHOO" "what--what was that. why did you make that noise. are you ok"
> 
> The reader got hurt and need a x-ray, Sans and papyrus saw the x-ray. I love the story ^_^

When you started dating the skelebros, you really thought that their differences were going to make the relationship…interesting.

They were monsters. Beings that dwelled Underground, who were trapped in a world where they were constantly reminded of their species’ failures in a war long gone. They lived in small communities and learned to coexist with so many other different people, coping with their entrapment with enough manners to make friends out of neighbors. They created puzzles for fun and out of tradition, healed with magic, and created a life full of whimsy and persistent optimism.

The brothers, however, were more fascinated with you.

You weren’t sure what it was. But every single thing that you thought was common among their race was foreign to them after all.

You should have known that they would’ve had questions. That there were going to be stark realizations that they might have looked human, but weren’t. And you went into this relationship knowing that you had to be respectful of their practices, just as they had been with yours.

What you didn’t expect was the constant wonder that they regarded you with.

It was a cool spring day. The flowers started to bloom, the birds starting their journey on raising their young, and kids all around anticipating just a few more months of school before they were free. It was just warm enough that you could wear a short-sleeved t-shirt instead of bundling up in a sweater of sorts, and you were heading to the local park for a barbeque that the monsters held every year in celebration of their return to the surface.

You’d brought something simple for them to eat, tucking it under your arm as you left the parking lot to the path toward their gazebo. The wind rushed through the trees and you felt the telltale tickle in your nostrils, stifling it down by sucking in a deep breath of air.

“OH, GOODIE! SHE’S HERE!!!”

You beamed at the sound of Papyrus’s voice. He was so excited to see you, and it never failed to make your heart swell with gratitude. He left his spot at the bench, abandoning his conversation with Undyne, before meeting you halfway with his arms outstretched.

“I AM SO HAPPY YOU MADE IT! DID YOU BRING THAT VERY SPECIAL THING YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE?”

“Sure did!” You handed it off to him. He took the giant container with ease. His strength never ceased to amaze you.

“hey.”

“Hi, Sans.”

“bro, did you remember to bring the sugar?”

“WHAT??? I WAS SUPPOSED TO BRING MORE SPECIAL CONDIMENTS?”

“eh, it’s ok. maybe we can just ask our super cute human to give us some.”

You snorted with laughter, but acquiesced. Papyrus was still having trouble understanding what his brother meant, at least until you planted a kiss on his cheekbone. He flushed instantly and held the container to his chest, stammering out something about it not being fair that Sans knew human slang.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. There’s some soda in the…” Uh oh. “In the…” Sniiiiiff. Get yourself, together, girl! The both of them had their gazes fixed on you, completely wary of your next words. They looked like they were waiting for another punchline. “In the ca-ACHOO!”

Oh, gross! You managed to angle your head away, burying your nose in the crook of your arm so you didn’t spray them with snot and spit. Your eyes watered. That…wasn’t the last of it. A few agonizing seconds passed before you sneezed again, shaking your head in frustration. Your nose was starting to stuff up.

“WHAT…WAS THAT???”

You reached down to dig in your purse, but it was hard to find anything when you couldn’t open the flaps completely to get a good look. “What was what?”

“THAT…HORRIFYING NOISE YOU MADE? IT WAS LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN A HOOT AND A SNORT. WAS THAT YOUR NEW LAUGH? I LIKED YOUR OLD ONE BETTER, BUT I SUPPOSE I CAN GET USED TO IT IF YOU’RE SOLD.”

Where the hell were those box of tissues? You started walking toward the picnic table, wanting to address this sooner than later. “That was a sneeze? You’ve never heard one before?”

“I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE ACT OF GOING DOWN A SNOWY MOUNTAIN RANGE WITH NEAT LITTLE FLIPPERS.”

That got Sans laughing. “that’s _skiing_ , bro.”

“YES, WHAT DID I SAY?”

You plopped down on the bench after greeting a few people, but the crowd was so big it didn’t look like anyone noticed how flustered you were. You dumped the contents of your purse out on the table and searched through the majority of the empty gum wrappers and crumpled receipts to find exactly what you were looking for: nasal spray.

“W-WHAT IS THAT? IT LOOKS INTIMIDATING.”

“This is, um…” You twirled it around in your hand, embarrassed. Papyrus still had the food. “Can you put that on the food table, please?”

“OH, YES!!! ONE MOMENT.”

He rushed there, dropped it off, and plopped down right in front of you.

“So…um…yeah. I think I’ve got some allergies. All the pollen in the air from the flowers?”

“YES?”

“It irritates my sinuses. So. I breathe it in, and my body is rejecting it. And it expels it from entering my nose by…forcing me to sneeze it out. I get this urge like I want to…I don’t know how to explain it. My nose just starts tickling and there’s a chain reaction where my body clenches and I expel it.”

“that’s…so weird. humans are weird.” Sans cackled.

“THEY ARE, AREN’T THEY? WHY DOESN’T YOUR BODY LIKE THE FLOWERS? I BOUGHT YOU FLOWERS IN THE WINTER AND YOU SAID YOU LOVED THEM! UNLESS…IT WAS A LIE???”

You laughed and tried to get into more detail, but you were tearing up again. “Just give me a second, okay? I’m going to take this medicine and it should help me tolerate it out here for a little while.”

One spray up both nostrils. Holding them shut while you applied it to each side. Sans and Papyrus were both fascinated with the way that the cartilage in your nose bent and gave way underneath your touch. Not having noses themselves, it was easy to see why it might be strange.

“ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT INJURED? IT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE A NORMAL THING.’

“yeah, don’t humans use cpr in stuff like this? you better give her mouth-to-nose, bro.”

You laughed as Papyrus loomed over you, completely ready to take the responsibility of somehow saving your life by breathing into your nose.

“IT WILL BE QUICK AND PAINLESS!”

“S-stop! Ahahaha! Papyrus, the sneezing helps!!!”

“nice try, we aren’t fallin’ for it. keep goin’, bro.”

You broke away from the table and wiped your nose on the back of your hand, able to escape only when Jerry stepped between the both of you and began to insult Papyrus’ choice of dress for the gathering. Did anyone even invite him, or did he just have a sixth sense on parties and end up wandering until he reached it? 

Whatever the case, any gratitude you had for him getting in the way was dashed away as soon as he started complaining about the dish you brought.

That didn’t save you completely, though. Because Sans had other plans.

He thought it was funny to boop your nose whenever he had a chance and you were unsuspecting.

You were in the middle of eating? He tapped you on the shoulder. _Boop._

You bent down to tie your shoe and glanced up when you saw his feet lingering in front of you? _Boop._

You checked your social media for just a split second? _Boop._

It never failed to make him laugh.

Papyrus was on sneeze alert. He trailed you the entire party, tensing whenever you reared back and made a move to do it. It was kind of funny to pretend after a while, but then it got a little annoying when he kept showing you video compilations of people sneezing online. Why the hell was that even a thing?

“I AM STILL CONVINCED YOU ARE INJURED AND JUST MASKING IT SO I DON’T WORRY.”

“Well, I’m not! And I wouldn’t do that!”

“BUT THIS CAN’T BE REAL. HUMANS CAN’T ALL ADOPT THE SAME DEFENSE MECHANISM TOWARD FOREIGN BODIES. IT’S PREPOSTEROUS.”

You sighed and put a hand on his cheek. “Monsters all use magic, right?”

“YES?”

“So humans have their own way of defending themselves. We’ve got our bodies constantly looking out for us in a series of complex systems constantly interacting with each other.”

“OH. WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY…IT IS STILL CONFUSING!”

At least with the medication you felt a little better. You still weren’t a hundred percent, but neither of them seemed to notice. Or if they did, they must’ve realized that you were tired of them being so overprotective.

It was time to play a monster and human favorite: capture the flag!

You and Sans were one team, Papyrus on the other. Given that he was so competitive, it was a little difficult to even think about beating him. Especially because he and Undyne had planned their strategy months before this event even happened.

“here’s what i’m gonna do. i’m gonna stick it on your back.”

“Sans, no.”

“it’s perfect.”

“We’re not allowed to put it on other people.”

“ok, fine. in your pocket. then it’s not on you, it’s in your jeans. see? perfect.”

You knew what you were going to do. A little recon. Because in games like this, there were always going to be people who charged forward. But not you. You would stick to the shadows, scanning the perimeter.

The whistle sounded off and you slunk away into the treeline. Eyes narrowed, knowing that Undyne would probably be the one guarding the flag. She would sit there and camp out near it to scare everyone off, but if you had to take one for the team, then so be it. She wasn’t going to last very long if that was her strategy, because so long as you distracted her long enough, someone else could slip in and grab it.

You crouched down near the bush. Peered through the leaves and listened. She had this strange noise that she made because she also filtered air through the gills on her neck. Sometimes they made this high-pitched wheezing when she was excited or on edge, which was…admittedly more often than you would think.

Ah. There it was.

You crept out from the tree and watched her scope the area. She had her back to you and was about to kick it into high gear to chase off another one of your teammates.

This was your chance!

You tore off, keeping low to the ground, as she let out a shout and barreled through the tall grass toward the teammate that was acting as bait.

She was about halfway through to them when her fins twitched. She came to a screeching halt, whipped around with a feral grin, and started toward you instead.

Abort! ABORT! You were no match for her, she was going to run you into the ground! You scrambled to turn the other way, cursing Sans for not pitching in. You caught sight of him sleeping against one of the tree trunks down the way, using the excuse that he’d been tagged so he was out of the game temporarily. He probably never even started in the first place!

In the midst of your high-pitched laughter and the anticipation of being tagged, you lost your footing and tripped over a root.

It wasn’t really too big of a fall. But you still went down hard. Landing on your side. White hot pain seared down the length of your arm, your fingers twitching and no feeling registering when you watched them move. Oh, GOD. Had you broken something? Your eyes welled up with tears as you struggled to sit up, hunching over and cradling your arm.

Papyrus called out your name. He appeared from seemingly nowhere, already dropping down to inspect the wound. “WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED? WHY ARE YOU CRYING?”

You hadn’t even noticed the tears, but now that you had, you were overwhelmed with the situation. “I-I can’t move my arm!”

“OH NO, NO, NO!!! WE NEED TO GET YOU TO TORIEL, SHE WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

Sans stopped his brother before he could move. “bro. tori’s with everyone else, and she’s had a, uh…few drinks. everyone has.”

“L-let’s just go to the ER,” you sobbed, not wanting to wait any longer. “I’m not ruining the picnic because of this!”

Papyrus determinedly picked you up and slung you over his shoulder. He was gentle enough that your arm wasn’t sending you into a screeching fit, but you were so over this. Undyne hadn’t noticed what was going on, as she had abandoned the chase to scare off another prospective opponent.

It was just the three of you. Piling up in Papyrus’s car while he snapped your buckle in.

You knew that the ER’s name was just a formality. No one ever got in and out unless they were on their deathbed. Something like this? They would keep you waiting in the lobby for nearly an hour before you were admitted.

As nice as it would’ve been to go to a monster hospital, staff was overworked with so many humans taking advantage of their healing powers. You didn’t want to cause any more of a fuss, so you took the punishment of playing the waiting game instead.

Papyrus finished filling out the paperwork for you and plopped down. Sans was already so done with the situation, tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. Seeing you in pain always triggered something in him, and he stewed in angry silence when you weren’t feeling well. In times like this, he was helpless – and not of his own volition. It drove him crazy.

“THIS IS A LITTLE…SCARY. ALL OF THESE SICK PEOPLE. ARE THEY CONTAGIOUS?”

“Who knows.” You winced and Sans reached down to take your free hand, running his thumb over your own digits. “A lot of these people probably don’t even know what’s wrong with them until they go back.”

“WHY DOES THIS FEEL LIKE A DEATH SENTENCE? ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO RETURN???”

You chuckled weakly. “You guys can go back with me. I promise I won’t anyone kidnap or get rid of me.”

“OH, GOOD, I WAS WORRIED.”

You glanced at Sans with a tired smile. It was depressing out here. Someone in the corner had thrown up all over the rug and moved like two seats closer to you, so that was awful. Another person kept groaning dramatically every thirty seconds. It didn’t expedite the process of being seen, and you were ninety percent sure they were just faking it for attention. Just based on the way they chatted with their neighbors perfectly okay just moments before.

Finally, your name was called. The nurse led you to the back, both of the brothers trailing after you.

She took your vitals. Again. Papyrus fumbled with a pair of gloves from the box on the wall, and she looked way too tired to care about warning him not to. Sans spun around on the free chair while you reclined on the bed, staring at the TV and its basic, BASIC cable channels.

“how can humans live like this. this is torture.”

“WHY IS EVERYTHING SO BRIGHT AND WHITE? IT LOOKS LIKE THE CAPITOL, BUT DEFINITELY NOT AS FORMAL. AND WHY DO THE NURSES ALWAYS ASK YOU FOR YOUR NAME AND DATE OF BIRTH WHEN THEY COME IN? DO THEY FORGET WHO YOU ARE?”

You did your best to explain what you could, but a nurse showed up with a wheelchair just for you.

“We need to take an x-ray of your arm to see if it’s broken.”

“OH! I WILL TAKE HER THERE. LEAD THE WAY.”

Sans helped you out of the bed and into the wheelchair. He was being surprisingly gentle in this entire process, probably because the hospital seemed to make him nervous. He’d seen his fair share of death and destruction in his lifetime(s), and he didn’t want to know that something major had happened to you on his watch. You were appreciative of his concern.

You rolled along the hallway. It was pretty dismal. Machinery meant to keep people alive. Monsters had magic and nothing else. They admired humans for their technological advances, but stuff like this had to be pretty upsetting. It was so detached and emotionless. The staff were overworked and underpaid, things made to comfort people in their last days. But it was all so sterile and uninviting. For monsters, when their friends or family Fell Down, they kept that at home until they turned to dust. At least they were comforted that way.

As the technician got you strapped up for the x-ray, you watched both brothers stand off to the side. They were trying to hide their worry. Papyrus waved and grinned, while Sans made some kind of weird joke that caused his brother’s eyes to bug out. They were such good boyfriends to you.

You stared up at the ceiling and sighed. You already knew that it was broken, but you had hoped…that it wasn’t.

The doctor came into the room and slapped the x-ray up on the board.

“So, if you look closely at this section, you can see…”

Well. That answered that.

It was a lot of long-winded explanations you didn’t care so much about. He left you with a treatment plan and a big bill for your insurance. You were so embarrassed that it had gotten this far, and all over a stupid game.

“hey, babe. feelin’ ok?”

“Not really.” You sighed deeply. “I shouldn’t have gotten so competitive.”

“yeah, but look at the bright side: now i got a reason to literally hold your hand.” He grinned. “’cuz. y'know. your dominant one is broken.”

Papyrus was surprisingly quiet. He was still glancing up at the x-rays on the board.

“Um, Paps? You okay?”

He turned toward you with a look of surprise. “OH. SORRY!!! I AM JUST…LOOKING AT THIS. IT IS…FASCINATING.”

You glanced from the x-rays to him, noting that he had a conflicted expression on his face. “Is it…bothering you?”

“NO. IT IS…” His shoulders shook. Oh, no. You’d upset him. “IT IS HILARIOUS!!!”

What.

“I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT UNDERNEATH YOUR SOFT, SQUISHY FLESH YOU HAVE BONES LIKE US. IT LOOKS UNCANNY! I KNEW THAT YOU DID, BUT SEEING IT LIKE THIS MAKES IT SO REAL! LOOK AT THEM, SANS. THEY ARE SO CUTE.”

“My bones. Are cute?”

“VERY MUCH SO!!! NOT QUITE LIKE OURS, BUT SIMILAR ENOUGH THAT IT’S ADORABLE. IN A STRANGE, ALIEN WAY. OH, LOOK AT ALL OF THE LITTLE THINGS YOU HAVE THAT WE DON’T! AND HE SAID IT CAN MEND ON ITS OWN?”

“Yeah, once they give me a cast.”

“IT’S INCREDIBLE!!! I THOUGHT THAT WHEN HUMANS BROKE THEIR BONES, THEY WOULD JUST GET A DONATION FOR ANOTHER ONE. I WAS FULLY PREPARED TO CRAFT YOU ONE.”

That had you in stitches. “Oh my GOD Paps, no!!! We don’t…donate bones to each other!”

“WELL I KNOW THAT NOW!!!” He huffed, cheekbones flushed with embarrassment. “I WOULD DONATE A NEW BONE TO SANS IF HE SOMEHOW MISPLACED HIS. OR IT FELL OFF BECAUSE HE WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION.”

“How the hell would it just fall off?!” That was news to you!

“YOU BELIEVED MY RUSE!!! POINT ONE FOR PAPYRUS, NYEH HEH HEH!”

You were going to deck him. “You jerk, I totally did! How am I supposed to know stuff like that?!”

“WELL, I WAS SERIOUS ABOUT THE DONATING. I COULD TOTALLY DO THAT IF IT WAS A THING. BUT YOU’RE TELLING ME IT’S _DEFINITELY_ NOT, RIGHT?”

“Right. Trust me.”

Sans continued to laugh so hard he fell off his chair. You wished your aim wasn’t so bad with your good arm so you could throw your tissues at him.

At that moment, something took hold of your chest and you felt your eyes squint.

“Achoo!”

Papyrus screeched. “OH, NO! THE SNEEZES HAVE RETURNED! DO WE NEED TO CALL THE NURSE? I’LL GET HER!”

“better dial quick, bro. it might consume her.”

“YOU ARE RIGHT! HOLD ON, MY BEAUTIFUL AND GORGEOUS GIRLFRIEND! I’M GOING TO SAVE YOU!!!”

The cast was so weird. You hated how trapped your arm felt, and you just knew that it was going to itch so bad in the next coming weeks. Sans and Papyrus asked about the process when they were applying it, fascinated with everything. You could tell that the nurse was a little overwhelmed with how they were fixated on her, but you weren’t going to discourage them from trying to learn more about how humans handled these kinds of situations.

“You guys are good to go. We’ll get you discharged in just a sec.”

You glanced down at the permanent marker she left to scribble on your paperwork. “Hey, you guys wanna sign my cast?”

“uh. why?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s just a thing that humans do. To…maybe…let the person know that you care and want them to recover? It’s fun to decorate them so they’re more personalized? …sometimes humans do weird things, Sans.”

He chuckled. “yeah, kinda figured. ok. gimme the marker.”

“OOH! I HAVE DIBS FOR THE NEXT SIGNATURE!”

The both of them took turns. Maybe you should’ve expressed that usually one signature was enough, because they made it into a game. Put tic-tac-toe on your cast. Drew hearts. Signed their names. Papyrus even left a message that said where to return you in case you got lost, with a detailed map that he crafted from memory. They were such dorks.

You couldn’t have asked for better monsters to take care of you. And although you were a little sad you couldn’t return to the party for the big fireworks show that they were sure to put on, spending time with them was more than enough for you.

You headed down the hallway to the front doors. It was a little warmer out, now. You had the whole rest of the day to do whatever you wanted. Papyrus was already fussing that you needed your rest, and to be real, the pain medication they gave you did make you pretty drowsy. That was how you knew it was the good stuff.

But you didn’t want to call it a day just yet. It seemed like such a waste. The weather finally temperate enough to stand being outside for more than a few minutes. You took off work to be with them, and it was a rare occasion these days that all three of you could hang out all at the same time.

Plus, you had a little bit of a craving going on now that the gross medical stuff was addressed and dealt with.

“We should get ice cream.”

“ARE YOU HOT?”

Sans’s eyesockets crinkled. “heh, you really gotta ask that, bro?”

“OH? OH!!! NYEH HEH HEH, OF COURSE. SILLY ME.”

You scoffed. Like you said: dorks. “Humans get ice cream after they go to the hospital.”

“sounds fake.”

“Is not, Sans. It’s a comfort food.”

“WELL, WE CERTAINLY CAN’T DENY TRADITION. TO THE CREAMERY!”

You didn’t even make it there, because you ended up crashing out in the backseat.

You must’ve slept hard, because you were under the entire drive home. You never even felt them scoop you up and cart you from the car to the house.

When you came to, you realized that you were posted up in Papyrus’s bed, since it was a lot cleaner, and there were several things on the nightstand next to you.

One: a glass of water.

Two: another dose of pain pills, which were definitely welcome.

Three: your nasal spray.

And four: a vase full of fake flowers.

Oh, they were picking things up quick, alright.

You sank into the massive bunch of pillows underneath your head and chuckled, knowing that any minute they would be stopping in to check on you. And you would welcome their questions and concerns with open arms.

**Author's Note:**

>  **comment for me!** it's SO rad to hear from you!
> 
> want to send me a request? **[put one in my inbox](http://echoflowertea.tumblr.com/ask)**!
> 
> [want to donate? go for it!](http://ko-fi.com/A258IM#_=_)


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